Perhaps it’s the fact he’s suffering from a cold. Or perhaps it’s some kind of extreme Nordic dementia brought on by his proximity to the Arctic Circle.

Or maybe, just maybe, he’s telling the truth.

Whatever the case, when you ask Mark Hamilton for a sense of Reykjavik, where he and some fellow Calgary musicians are currently working on a cross-cultural artistic project, his response is a little, er, odd.

“It’s musical and magical and there are elves running around,” he says. “And the restaurant across the street sells whale Popsicles called Moby Dick on a Stick.”

Not sure if that’s something the folks in the Icelandic tourism bureau want to borrow for a travel campaign, but it is, Hamilton says, a pretty good summation of his experience so far.

And it’s one he’s hoping will translate when he and the group of musicians — Samantha Savage Smith, Clinton St. John, Laura Leif and their Icelandic counterparts Benni Hemm Hemm and Prins Polo — return to town for a trio of shows, beginning Thursday night at the new Festival Hall as part of One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo.

SonicWaves, the name of the musical marriage, was something that was inspired by a trip Hamilton took to the island nation back in 2009 with his chamber pop band Woodpigeon.

“It was one of the biggest confidence boosters I’ve ever had, because I thought, ‘If somebody all the way over in Iceland has heard my music and wanted to bring me here then maybe I was doing something worthy, I guess,’ ” he says. “And one thing I really wanted to do was give some of my friends in Calgary the same kind of experience, to go to one of the most strange and exotic places on Earth to play our music.”

That led to conversations with the folks at Calgary Arts Development Authority, which then, in turn, involved two of this city’s most enthusiastic arts supporters, the Calgary Folk Music Festival and the High Performance Rodeo.

And while the planning has taken a few years and a great deal of logistics to make it happen, the trip, itself, and the timeline to create is one that’s rather rushed, and not one you’d assume would be conducive to making some great art.

But, although the local musicians arrived in Iceland late last week and return today, Hamilton, who resides in Vienna these days, says they’ve already written and rehearsed an entire album’s worth of material, with each songwriter either bringing an idea that everyone helped flesh out or all of them creating something from scratch.

Sure, a great deal of that has been hard work — they’ve spent a couple of days doing nothing but creating in a storefront shop that was made available to them — but, Hamilton says it’s also because being with the rest of the musicians and in the country has been a situation responsible for something truly inspiring.

“It’s really strongly being in this place with these people. I think if we got together in Calgary and decided to make music together it would be good and interesting but I don’t think it would be what we’re making here,” he says, noting that the attitude of all of the participants has contributed to the mood.

“Benni Hemm Hemm said a really awesome thing which was, ‘We all come from solo projects but there’s no solo artists in this project.’ It’s a band already. And as strange as it sounds, it’s totally true, because nobody’s being sacred about anything. . . . It’s great to feel open to that and also to feel able to say something like that.”

Leif, a Calgary native who has just returned to the city after a two-year stay in Toronto, agrees that communication between all of the artists has been warm and entirely generous, and that it’s been a large factor toward how good they feel about what they’re doing.

“Everyone feels super positive towards each other,” she says. “I think we’re still having all having a good time and that says a lot, when you’re working full days and can still feel good about the people you’re working with.”

That includes the pair of Reykjavik natives who’ve helped her and her Canuckian clan acclimatize themselves to their surroundings in such a short amount of time.

“It’s a really nice thing being here with two folks from Iceland, you get that insider scoop right away,” she says. “I feel like I’m getting to know it a lot better than I would if I’d come here on my own and not known anyone.”

Of course, it hasn’t all been work, she notes, and they have been able to get an idea of the nation outside of the creation and rehearsal process. The visitors were treated to a tour of the countryside upon their arrival, and were able to participate in Robbie Burns Day festivities, celebrated impressively due to Iceland’s large Scottish population. They were also invited to a dinner on Monday night at the Canadian Embassy, with dignitaries including our ambassador and the mayor of the country’s capital.

And, Leif says, although her first trip to Iceland has been something of a frosty whirlwind, she’s returning with some musical souvenirs that will definitely help her remember it and also give those at home an understanding of her experience.

“I was worried about that, too, about not getting enough of a sense of the place for it to seep into the songs. But I really feel like it has a big influence,” she says. “I’m really excited to play these songs for people (in Calgary). I’m super proud of it.”

After the group — including their Icelandic friends — return to town for the SonicWaves performances, they’ll head up to Banff where they’ll turn those souvenirs into an album for release later this year.

Like Leif, Hamilton is also proud to show everyone else what the collaboration produced, certain that it’s something that transcends merely the idea behind the project and stands as excellent music in its own right.

“They’re all Top 10 hits, I think,” he says.

Is that Top 10 in Canada or Top 10 in Iceland?

“Top 10 international,” he says with a laugh.

SonicWaves runs Thursday through Saturday at the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s Festival Hall as part of this year’s One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo.

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